A Different Kind of Valentine
by Cassandra Cassidy
Summary: A Valentine.fic by yours truly. Darkshipping Bakura x Yami. The spirits of the Items have a different way of looking at this modern holiday...


_Author's Notes: Rushed and last-minute; my best kind of work. (Ha!) This is my Valentine's Day fic… and of course, it's Bakura and Yami. It may seem rushed… and that's because it is. (Haha!) And now that I spent my entire afternoon on it, I need to go do my homework now. Hope you guys enjoy this. :snicker:_

_Dedication: To everyone who, like me, think Bakura and Yami are made for each other. Darkshipping – OTP!_

_Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! isn't mine. If it was, Yu-Gi-Oh! would be changed to "The Many Sex-ventures of Bakura and Yami" and I'd be up to my earlobes in cash. Sadly, we live in the real world…_

* * *

**A Different Kind of Valentine**

* * *

Chilly February sunlight spilled through the top floor windows of the Turtle Game Shop, more specifically, onto the occupant of one of the shop's bedrooms. Mutou Yugi woke with a great yawn, stretching his arms above his head before bringing one hand back down to rub at his eyes. These actions completed, the teen's eyes turned to glance at the calendar beside his bed. His violet eyes, which had been drooping sleepily, suddenly popped fully open as he took note of the date.

"Oh no…"

At the distressed note in Yugi's voice, Yami's ghostly form immediately appeared beside the teen. "What's the matter, Yugi?"

The smaller, who had leapt out of bed upon his discovery, was now throwing on his school uniform and muttering to himself. Yami frowned, but waited for the other to slow down a bit. Sure enough, once the boy was dressed and had his hair brushed, he turned to the spirit and sighed.

"It's just that I just realized that it's the thirteenth," he said, as if that explained everything. Yami tilted his head to one side. Yugi gave him an exasperated look as he tossed various books into his backpack. "You know… the day before Valentine's Day? Tomorrow's the fourteenth!" Then, under his breath, so that Yami barely heard him, "And I haven't gotten anything for Anzu yet…"

Yami blinked, puzzled. "What's Valentine's Day?"

Yugi paused in the act of zipping up his backpack. "Oh. Right," he murmured, as if the thought that the three-thousand-year-old spirit wouldn't know about the modern tradition had just occurred to him. "It's a holiday—"

"Another one?" Yami interjected, and Yugi nodded.

"Yes. It's a holiday for… well…" He blushed. "It's a holiday for people who are in love," he concluded, slinging his bag over his shoulder. Yami floated after him as he left the room.

"So what do you do on this holiday?" the spirit questioned with interest.

"Well, usually the guy in the relationship gets his girlfriend… or in my case, my friend that's a girl—" he pointedly ignored Yami's amused and knowing look, "—flowers or candy or jewelry or something. I see a lot of girls with teddy bears… maybe Anzu would want a teddy bear…" The teen fell to muttering to himself as he compiled his breakfast, leaving Yami to his thoughts, which consisted mostly of the question – if it was usually the guy who bought the gifts and gave them to the girl, then what happened when both in the relationship were male?

Two heads shot up as the doorbell sounded from the front of the shop. Yugi blushed furiously and immediately stopped talking under his breath as Anzu, Jounouchi, Honda, and Ryou entered.

"About ready, Yugi?" Jounouchi asked the shorter boy, who nodded. Yami immediately retreated to the Puzzle, assured that their conversation concerning this new holiday was over, at least for the time being.

Later that afternoon, as the group departed from school, Yami felt a mental tug from his younger counterpart. Materializing beside him, he instantly realized what he'd been summoned for. There, beside Ryou, glowering at him with unmasked dislike, was Bakura. After assuring Yugi that there wasn't going to be any bloodshed, the mortals departed, leaving the spirits to their impending conversation.

"You wanted to speak to me?" Yami inquired, going straight to the heart of the matter. The white-haired spirit gave a one-shouldered shrug, the hateful look disappearing to be replaced with one of nonchalance. Yami glanced at him in irritation. "Then what did you have Yugi call me out here for?"

"You flatter yourself," Bakura commented airily. "Whoever said I asked to see you? Our little hosts get all scared and run to you the second I come out to stretch my legs. That's not my fault."

"Actually, it is," Yami was quick to point out, while trying to hide how the other's comment had stung, "considering the fact that you do plenty to warrant their caution."

Bakura ran a hand through his hair and said, unabashedly, "Well, I suppose I **do** tend to strike fear in the hearts of the weak…"

Yami shook his head. "Now who's flattering himself?"

Bakura scowled at him, but Yami just turned to stroll in the direction of the game shop. Bakura followed.

It wasn't long, though, before the taller spirit began to notice some changes in Domino City's scenery.

"What IS this… this…" Bakura searched for a word as he looked around them, apparently appalled by what he was seeing.

"This what?" Yami prompted, glancing up.

"This… FOUL color everywhere!"

"It's called 'pink,' I believe…"

"I know what it's CALLED," Bakura snapped. "What I don't get is what it's doing strewn all over this gods-forsaken city!"

"Calm down," Yami tried to soothe. "They're probably just decorations for that 'Valentine's Day' thing that Yugi was talking about."

"I don't like it," Bakura stated, crossing his arms as if to ward off the offending décor.

Yami rolled his eyes at this childish display, but deigned not to comment. He looked around, and he did have to admit the view was a bit… excessive.

Every shop window in sight was adorned with red, pink, and white. There were hearts and cherubs, ruffles and lace, and Yami suddenly wondered if there was more to this affliction of Bakura's than just the overabundance of pink. He wished vaguely that the other would talk to him about it instead of being so evasive, but as usual, he kept these thoughts to himself.

Bakura broke him from that train of thought when he grumbled, "What's 'Valentine's Day?' Some girly holiday?"

Yami colored slightly. "Well, from what I understand, it's a holiday for people who… are in love." He paused, glancing none-too-discreetly at Bakura to see his reaction. The other merely looked annoyed.

"These idiot mortals have a holiday for everything, don't they? Next you're going to tell me that on this alleged 'Valentine's Day,' people buy each other presents."

"Well, actually…"

Bakura huffed an, "I knew it."

"Mostly flowers and chocolate, from what Yugi said," Yami pointed out, deciding not to mention that he thought the holiday was a wonderful idea.

Bakura snorted, but otherwise didn't respond. Yami tried not to make it too obvious that he was hanging his head at the other's coldness. Sometimes he really called into question whether their relationship was real or if he was just deluding himself.

The rest of their walk back to the game shop was made in silence. Yami felt rather despondent; Bakura stalked ahead with his hands crammed into his pockets, glaring around at everyone and everything around them. Yami decided not to point out that nobody could see them as spirits anyway.

Upon reaching their destination, Yami was almost through the door before Bakura remembered to mutter a half-hearted, "Seeya." Yami sulked all the way to the kitchen, and spent the rest of the afternoon helping Yugi make chocolates for Anzu.

The next day dawned bright and clear, and seemed to completely contradict Yami's mood. He spent the day pouting in his soul room, though he couldn't help feeling Yugi's glee when Anzu kissed him in return for the candies he'd given her. Yami gave a long-suffering sigh.

"What's your problem?"

The fire-haired spirit was on his feet in an instant, startled by the voice. He squinted into the darkness as Bakura made his presence known; the other was leaning casually against the aged stone wall as if he owned the place. Yami straightened.

"How many times do I have to ask you not to sneak up on me like that?" he asked in exasperation as his heart-rate returned to normal. He had long since given up on trying to get the other spirit to stay out of his soul room entirely, but he'd be damned if he was going to tolerate these surprise visits much longer.

"About four-hundred more ought to do it, give or take," Bakura countered smoothly, not moving from his shadowy alcove. "And you didn't answer my question," he added.

Yami scowled. "Maybe it's none of your business," he said petulantly.

Bakura gave him a condescending look. "Everything is my business," he said.

"Is that so?" Yami scoffed, not willing to back down. "That's strange. I'm not supposed to ever question you, but you can question me all you like, is that it?"

"Exactly." The taller spirit managed to add a scathing tone to just that one word.

Yami turned his back to Bakura, wrapping his arms about his waist against the sudden chill in the air. They were silent for several more moments before Yami heard the other finally move. Bakura's footfalls stopped just behind him.

"I'll ask again: what's your problem?"

Yami didn't bother to consider that Bakura never asked a question twice. Instead, he spun around, fury shining in his eyes. "What's my problem?" he asked, his voice quaking with anger. "What's MY problem! Did you ever stop to think that maybe you should treat me like… like…"

"Like…?" Bakura prompted icily.

"Like I **matter **to you!" Yami hollered at him.

There was an awkward pause.

"…This has something to do with that friggin' pink holiday thing, doesn't it?" Bakura said suspiciously.

Yami looked ready to throttle him. "This conversation is long overdue," he snapped. "I've just kept to myself because I didn't want to make you angry. But I'm tired of it!" Yami looked up at him, searching for some sign that the other was taking him seriously.

"So what you're saying," Bakura said softly, his voice frigid, "is that you don't think I care about you anymore."

"Tell me I'm wrong!" Yami spat. "It isn't as if I have much to go on, is it?"

The silence that stretched between them felt tense enough to shatter. Yami's breath was ragged with his effort to retain at least a bit of his dignity, though that seemed to be fading fast. Bakura's eyes seemed to burn into him with barely-restrained anger, and he found he couldn't hold the other's gaze any longer. Finally, the white-haired spirit turned away, moving back into the shadows, and said something inaudible.

Yami blinked at the other's back. "What?"

"I said, 'You're wrong!'" Bakura snapped. "You told me to tell you that you were wrong, so I am!"

"But I want you to mean it! I don't want you to just say it for the sake of saying—" he was cut off abruptly as Bakura slammed him roughly against the far wall, crushing his lips in a bruising kiss. Yami melted into the pseudo-embrace, his rant forgotten. When Bakura finally pulled away, he gave Yami a piercing look.

"Do not doubt me," he hissed. "I told you when this began that I loved you, and I meant it. And I still do. I didn't think I needed to celebrate some stupid mortal holiday to reinforce the idea."

Yami nodded numbly, shocked into silence. He hadn't expected such a passionate reaction from the other. But the action had erased any and all doubt that had previously clouded his mind. He understood now that Bakura just had a different way of going about their relationship than most people seemed to. "And for you, I can learn to adapt," he murmured, resting his head on Bakura's shoulder.

Bakura shook his head. "You're such a basket case…" he grumbled, but he stroked Yami's hair for good measure.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Bakura," Yami said softly.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get used to this touchy-feely snuggling crap, alright? I have an image to maintain."

Yami just laughed.

* * *

_End Notes: Happy Valentine's Day. :grins: Sorry if the ending feels like it fell flat on its proverbial face. X . X;_

_Please R and R._


End file.
